Cat Vomiting After Switching Food

[Alluvesscs11]

I have 2 kitties. One was diagnosed with IBD and after $1,000 in vet visits, 5 prescriptions and 4 different food changes later I have successfully cured it with a raw food diet after the meds and food did absolutely nothing. My one kitty who doesn't have IBD however is very picky. I've tried switching him slowly to a raw food diet but he won't eat it so I've left him on the dry/canned food that he's been on his whole life. This wouldn't be a problem but I've run out of the $50 dry food the vet gave me for the other cat and I have no money to get more. This left me with buying the cheaper Nutrish food by Rachel Ray. I know you are supposed to take your time transitioning but I'm completely out of the other food and he managed all other food changes overnight with no problem.
This time though he immediately puked up the food and got diarrhea. So I went to the store and got him some of the canned food I always feed him and he's puked that up too. I haven't seen anymore diarrhea but now he's refusing to eat absolutely everything I've put in front of him except for tuna which isn't healthy for him.
I've tried pieces of raw chicken, boiled chicken, treats and 2 different brands of wet food to no avail.
Please help! I can't afford to go back to the vet as all funds are gone but I know it was the food that started it. Any and all suggestions and tips are welcome. Today is Thursday now and I won't be able to afford to change the food again until Tuesday when I get paid but I don't know what to do until then....

 

[dahli6]

What kind of food does he usually eat?
When did the vomiting start?
He is probably afraid to eat unless it is something really delicious that he cannot turn down.
What kind of boiled chicken?

 

[Alluvesscs11]

The vomiting started about 48 hours ago when I initially made the switch in food. He was on a hypo allergenic dry food that I got from the vet for my other cat, I forgot what it's called, but he had been doing fine with all previous food changes that were mostly sensitive stomach: blue buffalo, royal canin, science diet.
Basically all the high end stuff. I'm worried that having been on all the sensitive stomach foods and prescription foods for so long because of my other cat that he's now developed and intolerance to normal food? Is that a thing? Nutrish is one of the higher rated foods out there next to the blue buffalo so it's not the quality of the food I don't think.
The boiled chicken I gave him was some of my other cats already prepared boneless, skinless chicken tenders. He would not touch it tho and I'm scared to give him more ground beef which he ate last time but again it made him sick.

 

[dahli6]

CatfoodDB gives Nutrish an overall 5.3 out of 10 paws which is pretty low. You should check that site out. They offer a rating based on overall food quality rather than customer appreciation. They also highlight potential allergens.
Can you poach a bone in chicken thigh with skin on it and offer him the broth?

 

[Alluvesscs11]

How much water and how long should I boil it for? Not sure he will go for it but I will try just about anything at this point. Will it be bland enough to not make him puke? I gave him another round of wet food for dinner last night and he licked all the juice out but left all the meat and still ended up puking. I would normally give him the chicken with pumpkin on it like I used to do when dealing with my other cat but he's not a fan of the pumpkin and barely ate it when he was feeling fine.

 

[_spadekitty]

I know you said your funds are low/gone, but is there any way you could get him in for an anti-emetic shot like Cerenia? If hes not vomiting and feeling nausiated he may be more willing to eat. Cats shouldn't go longer than two days without eating; they can develop pancreantitis or hepatic lipidosis and thats gonna be an expensive problem to fix, as well as hard on your kitty.
If hes eating the tuna, continue to feed him that. Its better than nothing.

 

[Alluvesscs11]

I know you said your funds are low/gone, but is there any way you could get him in for an anti-emetic shot like Cerenia? If hes not vomiting and feeling nausiated he may be more willing to eat. Cats shouldn't go longer than two days without eating; they can develop pancreantitis or hepatic lipidosis and thats gonna be an expensive problem to fix, as well as hard on your kitty.
If hes eating the tuna, continue to feed him that. Its better than nothing.

I really, really wish I could get him a shot but I have $4 to my name right now that's why I need ideas of what to try to tempt him with. I know that cats need to eat at least once everyday and he did get some tuna yesterday. Hopefully today is a new day and I will try once again with the wet food. I'm just so confused as to why the wet food would suddenly make him sick when he's been on it for years. The dry food I understand but not the wet....

 

[dahli6]

How much water and how long should I boil it for? Not sure he will go for it but I will try just about anything at this point. Will it be bland enough to not make him puke? I gave him another round of wet food for dinner last night and he licked all the juice out but left all the meat and still ended up puking. I would normally give him the chicken with pumpkin on it like I used to do when dealing with my other cat but he's not a fan of the pumpkin and barely ate it when he was feeling fine.

Just add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer about 10 minutes, 15 if you plan on eating the chicken instead of him. Don't add any seasoning to the water at all. Just plain.
Ladle a small amount of broth into a bowl, it should cool pretty quickly.
If he drinks the broth and keeps it down you can try offering him the heart of the thigh where the good oily meat is.

 

[_spadekitty]

I really, really wish I could get him a shot but I have $4 to my name right now that's why I need ideas of what to try to tempt him with. I know that cats need to eat at least once everyday and he did get some tuna yesterday. Hopefully today is a new day and I will try once again with the wet food. I'm just so confused as to why the wet food would suddenly make him sick when he's been on it for years. The dry food I understand but not the wet....

Yeah thats weird. Most cats can change wet foods no problem. Maybe he developed an allergy? My cat is allergic to poultry and throws up immeadiately after eating it if its wet, gets diarrhea if its dry. It could be an underlying issue as well...

 

[Alluvesscs11]

Just add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer about 10 minutes, 15 if you plan on eating the chicken instead of him. Don't add any seasoning to the water at all. Just plain.
Ladle a small amount of broth into a bowl, it should cool pretty quickly.
If he drinks the broth and keeps it down you can try offering him the heart of the thigh where the good oily meat is.

Ok thank you. I'll try it tonight for dinner as I need to let the meat thaw. Will give an update and let you know how it goes.

 

[Alluvesscs11]

Yeah thats weird. Most cats can change wet foods no problem. Maybe he developed an allergy? My cat is allergic to poultry and throws up immeadiately after eating it if its wet, gets diarrhea if its dry. It could be an underlying issue as well...

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too and kinda scared of cause I don't want to be stuck paying out the rear end for food just because the food (that wasn't even for him!) gave him an intolerance to everything else. Ugh...I had even asked the vet over and over if it was ok to feed him the prescription food and they said it was no problem. Guess now I know.

 

[_spadekitty]

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too and kinda scared of cause I don't want to be stuck paying out the rear end for food just because the food (that wasn't even for him!) gave him an intolerance to everything else. Ugh...I had even asked the vet over and over if it was ok to feed him the prescription food and they said it was no problem. Guess now I know.

Well, usually an allergy develops when they eat the same protein for years and years, not when they've previously been on a hypo diet and have now switched over. I'd start ruling out things like poultry, fish, grains, gums, etc.
Have you tried a probiotic? His gut flora may be off causing all the issues, and if he doesnt feel good of course he wont want to eat. There may be some powders/chews in your budget you can get before you get paid, or even after if hes gets a little better.

 

[kamarx]

try Wysong dry it is one of the best dry foods available. you can order it online.read the ingredient label. it cant by beat. for quality. and price.

 

[Alluvesscs11]

Ok thank you guys for all the suggestions. I'll look into getting him the fortiflora, my other cat was on it for a while but I got that from the vet. Is it prescription only or do they sell that over the counter? I got him to eat a little wet food for breakfast this morning and I haven't found any puke, yet. He just inhaled a hand full of treats as well so I'm waiting to see if that comes back up.
Is it worth it to switch the food again or will he most likely have the same reaction to any new food no matter what it is? Once they are acclimated to a food do they keep the antibodies for it forever? If that's the case I was thinking about going back to the blue buffalo...

 

[Pjg8r]

I got fortiflora from Chewy. I didn’t need a RX

 

[maggiedemi]

My cats puked up the Rachael Ray dry food too, I have no idea why, I thought maybe it was because it's so small and they swallowed it whole without chewing. Once my cats start puking, they seem to puke up everything until the next day. The next day they are usually fine. How is your cat today?

 

[Alluvesscs11]

Much better thank God! I swear I'm cursed with my animals always having GI problems. I finally got my oldest kitties (Charlie) stomach under control after a whole year and now this with my youngest (Dexter). Anyway, he is finally eating little bits here and there and nothing has come back up so far. Not sure if this is because he is better or because he is only eating a mouthful at a time.
He still wont eat any kind of chicken or bland food that I give him but he did eat his treats today and a small amount of the wet food. I've been trying to get him to eat every couple of hours but it us difficult because the other animals think they need to eat as well every time I try to feed Dex.

 

[Alluvesscs11]

My cats puked up the Rachael Ray dry food too, I have no idea why, I thought maybe it was because it's so small and they swallowed it whole without chewing. Once my cats start puking, they seem to puke up everything until the next day. The next day they are usually fine. How is your cat today?

This would make sense about the size of the food for normal cats but mine have been on a variety of special diets for the last year which are all a pretty small size. Especially the blue buffalo. They were on that the longest and its basically the same tiny pieces. Plus the fact that he was puking up the wet food as well was concerning.